- Tencent reportedly expressed concern that it might lose its status as the world’s largest gaming company.
- At Tencent’s annual meeting this week, Pony Ma, the company’s founder, partner and CEO, said the Chinese tech giant’s gaming business, which accounts for more than 30% of its revenue, underperformed in the face of stiff competition last year.
- While old hits like Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile continue to perform strongly, Ma also reportedly said that Tencent’s latest games have failed to live up to expectations.
Tencent reportedly expressed concern that it might lose its status as the world’s largest gaming company. At Tencent’s annual meeting this week, Pony Ma, the company’s founder, partner and CEO, said the Chinese tech giant’s gaming business, which accounts for more than 30% of its revenue, underperformed in the face of stiff competition last year.
While past hits like Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile continue to perform strongly, Ma reportedly said that Tencent’s latest games have failed to live up to expectations. Ma said, “We faced significant challenges last year. “As our competitors continued to produce new products, we found ourselves at a loss and felt like we were achieving nothing.” said.
Tencent became the world’s largest publisher in terms of revenue in the first half of 2023, according to data published by research company Newzoo in November. Despite a 3.6% year-on-year decline, Tencent’s gaming revenues in the first six months of last year amounted to $15.4 billion. With this figure, Tencent was well ahead of second-place Sony ($8 billion) and third-place Apple ($6.9 billion). If Activision Blizzard’s revenues were included, Microsoft’s game revenues would be $10.4 billion. However, Tencent’s acquisition of the Call of Duty publisher had not yet been completed at the time.
Tencent and fellow gaming giant NetEase had almost $80 billion wiped from their market value last month after China’s gaming regulator proposed new rules to limit spending on online games. But Tencent shares rebounded slightly last week after the regulator removed the draft rules from its website, sparking speculation they could be changed to be less restrictive for gaming companies.
Compiled by: Fatma Ebrar Tuncel
